Consistent BSOD after new PC build

[Jonathan_King]

Okay, now test one stick at a time. If you find a stick with no errors, test it in all the other slots.

Let us know the results, and we can diagnose it as a RAM, Motherboard, or Compatibility problem.

 

[AMH]

Okay, when I get home from class I will start swapping memory and testing individually, then run different slots and get back to you.

 

[AMH]

Is this strange? I noticed while running Memtest86 on the same stick of ram...

In 2 slots that i remember the settings of the ram were 666 Mhz (DDR1333) listed on top.

This last slot (I don't recall looking at it during the third slot) but this last time the settings show 200 MHz (DDR400)...

But going into bios shows 1600MHz adjusted speed.

 

[AMH]

just now I tried firing the PC up with the third stick of ram in the first slot, the pc powered on but my screen remained blank. I reset it twice and it still remained blank.

I swapped to slot 2 and hooked everything back up and this time it booted just fine. Running memtest86 though showed no errors with the ram, although it is listed as 200MHz (DDR400) just like the other stick.

 

[AMH]

Individual sticks work fine with memtest86, however after putting 3 sticks in and running memtest I received 84 errors during Test 5, 156 errors during Test 6, 256 errors during Test 7, 348 errors during Test 8 after a single pass of tests.

 

[ttran]

Did you test only one stick of Ram on different slots to make sure that all slots are working properly. Have you changed any BIOS setting or anything???

 

[Jonathan_King]

Individual sticks work fine with memtest86, however after putting 3 sticks in and running memtest I received 84 errors during Test 5, 156 errors during Test 6, 256 errors during Test 7, 348 errors during Test 8 after a single pass of tests.

Sounds like a RAM compatibility problem.

I will contact a couple of experts in that area, and hopefully they will post soon.

Please be patient as they are in a different time zone.

 

[Dave76]

Hi AMH,

You are looking for the possibility of bad RAM and/or bad slots.
If a RAM stick fails to boot or fails the memtest86, run it in another slot. If it passes this will indicate a possible bad slot.
Next, put another RAM stick that you know has passed in one of the other slots, into slot 1, run memtest86. If it fails this will confirm the bad slot.
If you want to be sure, since the issue with 2 sticks running at 666 Mhz and the other two possibly running at 200 Mhz, try all four one at a time in slot one.

just now I tried firing the PC up with the third stick of ram in the first slot, the pc powered on but my screen remained blank. I reset it twice and it still remained blank.

I swapped to slot 2 and hooked everything back up and this time it booted just fine. Running memtest86 though showed no errors with the ram, although it is listed as 200MHz (DDR400) just like the other stick.

I did a quick, 5 minute, search on your MOBO and found a reference to an issue with this board running more than two RAM sticks, actually not being able to run more than two sticks of RAM.
Someone mentioned that they had read this on a couple different forums, so not 100% fact.
They also mentioned that some brands of RAM and certain timings gave this board problems.
Running at 1600 caused it not to boot.
You may need to set everything back to 1333 and see if it will run.

Did you buy all four RAM sticks at the same time and place?
Are they exactly the same timings and voltages?
Your board recommends 1.5v for RAM, running above this can cause an issue. This was also mentioned in my search.
Is it AMD tested memory?
If it's the Intel RAM there are lots of issues mentioned, You need to make sure it's the AMD spec RAM.

Tell us the exact settings you put the RAM at in BIOS.
Can you give us a CPU-Z snip of the Memory and SPD tabs?

In your previous post,

Just finished drive check, downloading seatools now to run that. Here's a screenshot of what the drive check said.

At the bottom of the snip it says:
View attachment 82268

Did you run CHKDSK with the /F option to fix the Bitmap error?
Then run Check Disk again to ensure it has been fixed?

 

[AMH]

Yea I ran the chkdsk /f option, twice actually.

Last night I ran everything all over again.

The memory that failed to boot in slot 1 worked fine in slot 2-4.

All memory alone was tested in slots 1-4 and no errors in bugcheck.

All memory together came up with the bugcheck errors.

3 sticks in slots 1-3 also came up with the bugcheck errors.

I woke up this morning to a ton of minidumps while I slept. They seem to point all over the place?

 

[AMH]

Hi AMH,

Did you buy all four RAM sticks at the same time and place? Yes, Newegg.
Are they exactly the same timings and voltages? Yes all the same timing and set to spec 1.5V.
Your board recommends 1.5v for RAM, running above this can cause an issue. This was also mentioned in my search.
Is it AMD tested memory? Not sure, actually.. I swear I checked this but I may be mistaken!

I have a feeling the motherboard being open-box is the route of these issues... As I am impatient and made the assumption all motherboards are the same return policy, I actually picked up a new motherboard, but went with a different brand/model: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula.

I checked ASUS website and the ram is listed on their compatibility list, however it looks like it is 1-Dimm and 2-Dimm supported only? I went ahead and ordered a set listed as 4-Dimm compatible on their site.

I'm going to do the swap when I receive the ram and try that. Hopefully this solves my issues.

 

[Dave76]

Good luck, hope that new MOBO works.

It's always risky to get an open box, they are returns

Let us know how the new board install goes.

 

[AMH]

Did you test only one stick of Ram on different slots to make sure that all slots are working properly. Have you changed any BIOS setting or anything???

yes I tested each stick (4 sticks total) in each slot (4 slots total) individually everytime and ran a memtest86 everytime for 5 passes with each stick individually.

Each individual test came up fine (with the exception of the 3rd stick being in slot 1 and the PC didn't boot).

With 3 or 4 sticks in, memtest86 comes back with a lot of errors.

I changed BIOS to manufacturer specs, 9-9-9-24 2T 1.5V

I also changed the NB voltage slightly a few times to try and stabilize things with 4 sticks. Each time the same crash occured.

 

[AMH]

Good luck, hope that new MOBO works.

It's always risky to get an open box, they are returns

Let us know how the new board install goes.

Will do, thanks all for your patience and help through this all. I'm hoping this is the end of my issues.

 

[AMH]

I think it is safe to say the problem has been fixed with the new motherboard.

CPU temps running at 29degrees at 3.9GHZ
Ram is at 1600Mhz

Haven't had a single crash yet in over 4 hours (previously I was getting crashes about once every 30 minutes or 45 minutes).

I'm a little hesitant to proclaim this until a few more days goes without issue, but I am pretty confident the issue was resolved with replacement of the motherboard.

Lesson learned - never buy open box mobo.

 

[Dave76]

Glad to hear, so far, the new board is running smoothly.

Hard lesson to learn, but I'll bet you won't forget

Let us know if it continues to play nicely with others or if it doesn't.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Thanks for taking over Dave. Glad to hear your problem is solved, AMH.